January 15, 2012
The Big PictureOn Stranger TidesBy Nick Dager Stranger tides, indeed. Of course the movie industry has seen down years domestically and a few successful movies in 2012 could change everything but, as has been widely reported, domestic tickets sales dropped by about three percent in 2010 – despite a rise in ticket prices – and, more troubling, attendance was the lowest it has been in sixteen years. And yet, international sales set records. To take just one example, according to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides tallied $802.6 million in offshore box office, more than three times its domestic gross. Many factors are contributing to this developing trend, not the least of which are digital cinema technology, the rise of alternative content and Hollywood’s unending dependence on sequels and lowest common denominator films. The transition in the motion picture exhibition business that started a decade ago with the implementation of digital technology is gaining momentum. More wholesale change is inevitable. Read More >>>Feature StoriesAlternative Content
AAM Scales Down Alternative Content Division
By Melissa Keeping Stereoscopic 3D
Space Junk 3D Crashes onto Screens
Just as the crippled Russian satellite, Phobos-Grunt, threatens to fall from our sky, the film Space Junk 3D opened in Imax and other giant screen theaters in both 2D and 3D this week. The movie, directed by Melissa Butts, is the first to explore the exponentially expanding ring of manmade debris that threatens the safety of our planet's orbits, 22,000 miles above earth. Coming Soon
Managing Tight BudgetsCinematographer Matthew Irving and director/producer Cindy Baer faced tight budgets when making their film Odd Brodsky. Complete story in our next edition |
News Stories
Odeon Completes Digital Transition of 890 Screens
Odeon, the largest cinema chain across the UK and Ireland, has completed its digital rollout. The program, over two years, has involved all 113 Odeon cinemas in the UK and Ireland.
JVC Introduces first Handheld 4K Camcorder
ASC Names Nominees for Feature Film Award
Guillaume Schiffman, (The Artist), Jeff Cronenweth, (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo), Robert Richardson, (Hugo), Hoyte van Hoytema, (Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy), and Emmanuel Lubezki, (The Tree of Life) have been nominated in the feature film category of the 26th Annual American Society of Cinematographers Outstanding Achievement Awards. The winner will be announced at the ASC Awards celebration at the Hollywood and Highland Grand Ballroom on February 12.
Red Digital Cinema Sues Arri in Federal Court
In a story that has been widely reported, Red Digital Cinema has sued Arri and former Arri employee Michael Bravin. Red claims that while at Arri Bravin hacked into the emails of his former employer Burbank reseller Band Pro Film & Digital, which was discussing possible joint ventures with Red.
Cinemark Completes Digital Conversion Across Entire Circuit
Cinemark completed its digital cinema conversion in December to become the largest theater chain in North America with 100 percent digital projection in its domestic, first-run theaters. In addition to supplying projectors to Cinemark, Barco also performed all of the installation services for the full circuit deployment, delivering and converting every single screen.
International 3D Society Names 2012 Techology Award Winners
The International 3D Society today announced the 14 companies and organizations to be honored at its 2012 3D Technology Awards on January 19th in Hollywood.
Deluxe Delivers More Than 100 Million Trailers to Blu-ray Consumers
Deluxe Digital Studios has delivered more than 100 million movie trailers directly to Blu-ray consumers, with nearly 6.5 million trailers delivered directly to consumers' connected Blu-ray players in a single month.
Dolby Screen Server Passes Compliance Test
Dolby Laboratories has announced that The Dolby Screen Server DSS200 has passed the Compliance Test Plan Version 1.1, as conducted by Keio University. Shows / ConferencesNational Association of Broadcasters Convention 2012
April 14-19, 2012 Las Vegas Convention Center Digital Cinema Summit 2011
April 9-10, 2011 Las Vegas Convention Center CinemaCon 2012
April 23-26, 2012 Caesar's Palace Dimension 3
June 13-15, 2012 Paris, France ShowEast 2012
November 5-8, 2012 Westin Diplomat Center View Conference 2012
Oct. 19-21, 2012
Cinema Massimo Turin, Italy http://www.viewfest.it IBC 2012
September 6-11, 2012 Rai Convention Center |
JVC has announced the GY-HMQ10, which the company says is the world’s first handheld 4K camcorder. Powered by JVC’s Falconbrid large-scale integration chip for high-speed signal processing and a 1/2-inch CMOS imager with 8.3 million active pixels, it delivers real-time 3840x2160 footage at 24p, 50p, or 60p.